Why is it so hard to find the perfect car?

[Heller]

scion tc

 

[Demo24]

Indeed. You can get anything you want if you have enough money. I was mostly upset because regular cheap cars like the Camry and Accord do not offer such options. A quick google search says the top 5 cars in the US for June were:
Toyota Camry
Honda Civic
Honda Accord
Toyota Corolla
Chevy Malibu

For the above options, the Camry does not come with a manual. The Civic only has balls if you get the Si model which burns as much gas as a V6 but has less power and requires premium fuel and has super expensive insurance because a lot of douches drive them. The Accord only has the V6/manual if you get the couple. The Corolla only has balls if you get the XRS model, which burns more gas than a Camry even though it has less power, and fewer gears, and the insurance is more, and it's smaller. Chevy I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot poll since my parents owned GM vehicles and they would chew through alternators and starters as often as most cars go through oil.

I'm just picky. Things like the Speed 3 and Civic Si do everything I want, but certain aspects of the price seem unreasonable. For example, insurance on a Civic Si is waaaay more than that on a Civic EX. Also, why does the Si burn as much gas as a 270HP V6 in the Accord even though it has 70HP less? Why does it take premium gas? That means the Si actually costs more to drive even though it has less power and is slower. How did Honda fuck this up so bad. I just don't understand.

a) camry actually does come with a manual, but it's very rare

b)the Si turns a very high gear on the highway, thus the poor gas mileage. Most honda manuals seem to do this for some reason. It's most likely done because they don't make torque until quite high in the power band, but still they could turn lower and be just as good. The si for example doesn't make peak torque until like 6k, and hp is basically at the rev limit. The car wasn't designed for fuel economy, and while it would be slower in a quarter mile it would devastate an accord on a track because it handles quite well.

 

[KentState]

I know I bend forks all the time

Really? Why are you spending $2k on rims when all you have are balsa wood forks? I hope you are being sarcastic because this pretty much just confirmed what everyone has been saying about you.

 

[vshah]

a) camry actually does come with a manual, but it's very rare

b)the Si turns a very high gear on the highway, thus the poor gas mileage. Most honda manuals seem to do this for some reason. It's most likely done because they don't make torque until quite high in the power band, but still they could turn lower and be just as good. The si for example doesn't make peak torque until like 6k, and hp is basically at the rev limit. The car wasn't designed for fuel economy, and while it would be slower in a quarter mile it would devastate an accord on a track because it handles quite well.

fwiw i easily get ~34mpg on the highway in my Si sedan. and I'm not babying it either.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Doesn't the new Cruze come with a turbo-4 and 6 MT?

 

[exdeath]

The perfect car is the one that gives you cheezy grin like a kindergartner getting school pictures 3 years later when you walk to the parking lot.

 

[vshah]

The perfect car is the one that gives you cheezy grin like a kindergartner getting school pictures 3 years later when you walk to the parking lot.

and the one that makes you really sad if your parents borrow it for even a few days 🙁

 

[ShawnD1]

a) camry actually does come with a manual, but it's very rare

Not in Canada they don't 🙁
link which may not work for americans

It says they all come with 6 speed automatic transmissions that allow sequential shifting. I guess that's a nice alternative I would consider 😀
I just hate my automatic because I can't floor it in top gear to maintain speed up a hill or to gently and smoothly accelerate. It drops gears then runs at something stupid like 5k rpm. It makes the ride a lot noisier and jerkier than it needs to be. There's one particular hill where cruise control will actually drop to second gear and run just below red line. Thanks for destroying my engine, you piece of crap transmission.

Sequential shifters are pretty cool. You can go automatic and talk on your cell phone while jacking off, or you can use the shifter to prevent the auto from trying to bag the car for you. It's great.

fwiw i easily get ~34mpg on the highway in my Si sedan. and I'm not babying it either.

See, that's exactly my point. That's horrible for a car of that size with that little power. Environment Canada rates the Civic Si Sedan at 34.7 miles per US gallon (41.4 per imperial gallon). That same government agency rates the 271HP Honda Accord V6 at 35.3 miles per US gallon (42.0 per imperial gallon). The 268HP Toyota Camry V6 gets 33.6 miles per US gallon, the 270HP Nissan Altima gets slightly less than the Camry.

 

[KentState]

The perfect car is the one that gives you cheezy grin like a kindergartner getting school pictures 3 years later when you walk to the parking lot.

I prefer the ones that give you a grin when you get out after a drive like you just raped and pillaged the local village.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Rear seats up. Thats all trunk space

wow...

epic picture 🙂

 

[thepd7]

EDIT: Add the Saab 9-3 to your list. 2009 models can either be had a with a V6T with 285HP or a 2.0T with 210HP.

Definitely. It's not going to be $22k new but it's a damn fine car (my buddy just bought one).

can't get the perfect car with that budget

This. Do you seriously expect to get a perfect car new with $22k? That's why God invented used cars. I have found two incredible cars for $10k used.

You want some real answers?

Regular drivers are stupid as fuck. They want good gas mileage, but they don't want great gas mileage. They'll buy a 4 cylinder with no balls, but it damn well better not have one of those manual transmissions. That would be too efficient. I don't want to look gay in front of my friends and look like I care about the environment or my gas budget. Also, I hate my family and want them to die; that's why I prefer my cars to have severely crippled 0-60 times so we get rear ended when I underestimate how long it takes to get up to speed when the car has 4 passengers.
consumer reports: manual transmissions consistently get 10% better gas mileage while accelerating 10% faster.
Worst difference of 0-60 times on that list is the Honda Civic EX. 0-60 in 8.6s with a manual vs 10.1 with an automatic. The automatic is a whopping 17% slower in that particular car.


People who want sporty cars are stupid as fuck. Car companies keep making shitty cars with 2 doors because stupid people keep buying them. When will these cars finally die? If I'm driving and my girlfriend is riding shotgun, she needs to get out of the car and potentially stand in the snow or the rain just so her bimbo friend can get in the back seat? Whoever designed the coupe should be killed with a dull knife.



The biggest conflict I see all the time are 3 things: engine, transmission, number of doors. You want a V6 sedan? Those only come with automatic transmissions. You want a manual? You can only get the manual with either the V6 coupe or the I4 sedan. wtf? Both of those suck dick. Just give me a car that doesn't suck ass. I want 6 cylinders, 4 doors, a manual transmission. That's it. WHY IS THIS SO DIFFICULT!!?!?

Toyota: All V6 only come with automatics
Honda: Only the Civic Si almost fits what I want. Power, manual, 4 doors.
Subaru: Impreza WRX :thumbsup:
others..... etc

So you want an Audi. Right?

 

[Kroze]

Let's not get off topic now and go to personal attacks.

So pretty much my choices are the Mazdaspeed3 (which i own before) or the WRX hatchback.

 

[shortylickens]

#1: There is no such thing.
Perfection is an abstract concept, it exists only in the human mind. Since nothing in the real, tangible world is perfect, perfectionists often have a hard time dealing with things. In the case of car purchases, the trick is to accept that eventually you will find something thats good enough.

#2: The government. Federal regulations are the main reason you have such a hard time getting a car the way you like it. Seems like every time I start looking for a new vehicle those fucking cocksuckers have regulated more shit I dont need controlled.
Couple weeks ago I went to the Chevy dealership just to see some cars. No intention of buying. All their new stuff had really uncomfortable headrests. I asked the dude what was up with that. He claimed that in a few years the government is going to institute stricter policies on headrest shape and position, because so many people have been getting whiplash. He said GM just decided to jump on those standards a little early because it made them look good and it was going to happen anyway so it would save them time.

I HATE everything automated in my vehicle except the transmission, and even then I like it to have manual overrides. I hate the doors auto-locking. I hate the annoying bing that keeps ringing when I dont have my seatbelt on. I hate so many things its not even funny. And the sad part is that there will be more and more restrictive controls on motor vehicles as time goes on. And where the government doesnt dictate flat out requirements, the car companies will choose to do annoying things because the idiot asshole soccer moms need to have so many protections and "features", while the rest of us with working brains need to suffer for their stupidity.

As for the OP's specific issue: It seems to me it would be easier to find a base car with the things you cant change, and then modify the stuff you can. It would seem in my S-10 it is possible to disable the seatbelt alert, I just havent had the guts to mess with my electronic system yet. Ditto the auto-door locking features, and the auto-headlights on "feature". BUT, the next car I buy will probably not allow those things to be disabled and will probably have even more annoyances which I'll just have to learn to deal with.
My moms RAV4 is like that. Most of the annoying shit cannot be fixed. She just has to ignore it. But thats a cute little family friendly SUV and I intend to avoid those.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Wow. Hate much?

 

[ShawnD1]

So you want an Audi. Right?

Audi isn't really known for reliability :'(
They're also twice as expensive as regular cars.

I HATE everything automated in my vehicle except the transmission, and even then I like it to have manual overrides. I hate the doors auto-locking. I hate the annoying bing that keeps ringing when I dont have my seatbelt on. I hate so many things its not even funny. And the sad part is that there will be more and more restrictive controls on motor vehicles as time goes on. And where the government doesnt dictate flat out requirements, the car companies will choose to do annoying things because the idiot asshole soccer moms need to have so many protections and "features", while the rest of us with working brains need to suffer for their stupidity.

I hear ya. I remember bitching about my Corolla automatically unlocking the doors in unsafe areas, beeping constantly until the passenger wears a seatbelt, making a beeping noise if I open the door while it's in neutral.

Soccer moms really are a huge part of the blame. I remember one news article where some soccer moms were suing Chrysler because they parked a minivan on a hill with no parking brake and the van jumped out of park and rolled over their husband or kids, killing them. So driver training was right when they said you are always supposed to use the parking brake when you park? No shit. Next we'll see Toyota make my car even more annoying and it will make a beeping noise if I don't apply the parking brake when I run in the house for 20 seconds.

 

[HarryLui]

As for recommendations with the Mazdaspeed 3. Just FYI I had an 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 for about a month in 2010.

It was a terrible snow storm in the northeast and the car had to be towed several times because it couldn't get any traction. It left a bad taste in my mouth after all that so I sold it. I found out it was the "Summer" tires that came with the car stock that's causing all that problems.

Though I like the car, I don't know about owning it in when you're living in the northeast with all the snow storms

You had the perfect car for you needs, not sure about your tires were perfect though.

I mean, come on, you really think the 225/40-18 aggressive summer performance tires is ok in snow? Get a set of spare wheels and snow tires!

 

[JCH13]

You had the perfect car for you needs, not sure about your tires were perfect though.

I mean, come on, you really think the 225/40-18 aggressive summer performance tires is ok in snow? Get a set of spare wheels and snow tires!

Yeah... the temp rating on stock MS3 tires is 36F, anything below that and you're hosed on dry pavement, not to mention snow, slush, or ice.

I've got a set of Dunlop M3s on my MS3 in the winter and it's a tank. Everyone that I've talked to with winter tires on their MS3 says it's a tank in snow. Everyone I've heard that doesn't like it in the snow still had the stock summer tires on it. Buy any reasonable winter tire, which every vehicle in New England should have, and you'll be fine.

 

[JJ650]

Gonna have to give a nod to the G8 GT (GXP if you have a ginormous hardon for a manual).
Maybe I'm biased cause I have one, but I love the thing. I get ok mileage for a large v8 sedan (can hit 27 on the highway, 18's around town).
It has power when I want it and really pulls like a freight train when you get start to wind it out.
Get a tune (tcm tune especially) and that car really wakes up. Sport mode ACTUALLY feels like a sport mode.
The LSD does a good job of keeping things in check and the nanny is either kept on or can be completely turned off. Turn it off and the back end will happily wag it's tail but very controllable.
The trunk is a pretty good size too. Can stuff plenty of crap in it (stroller, luggage, the wife's crap, and crib) and still have a little extra room.
4-dr with a fair bit of room in the back. I'm tall, and folks still have knee space when sitting behind me.

The ONLY problem I have had is the stupid gas cap not sealing and throwing a code every now and then.

 

[jlee]

Let's not get off topic now and go to personal attacks.

So pretty much my choices are the Mazdaspeed3 (which i own before) or the WRX hatchback.

Either would be a fantastic car. The Speed3 with winter tires will do you just fine. WRX hatch/wagon would also be a run ride. Can't really go wrong either way...though as I prefer AWD to FWD, I'd lean towards the WRX.

 

[uclabachelor]

What I'm looking for in a car is Fun & Practical:

Fun
- Manual Transmission
- Quick & Fun to drive
- Turbocharged is a plus (Due to how easy it is to get more power) but not a deal breaker.

Practical
- Have a trunk that is big enough to haul 2 full size luggage (I like to go on vacations)


I like owning a new car because:

- I don't have to worry about the previous owner's hidden problems.
- New car warranty
- Nothing to worry about for the next several years in term of major maintenance/break down.


So far I've found several cars and it's tough to narrow it down....Feel free to add a vehicle to the list & reasons why.

~$23k
2011 Civic Si Coupe
2011 Chevy Cruze Turbo
2011 Nissan Juke Turbo
2011 Accord LX-S Coupe
2011 Mazdaspeed 3 Turbo
2011 Ford Mustang V6
2011 Hyundai Genesis 2.0 Turbo
2011 Volkswagon GTI
2011 Chevy Camaro V6

If you can wait, the Toyobaru FT-86 RWD Coupe is due out within the next year and is around that price range.

 

[Kroze]

Damn I can't wait....

Bought this yesterday 10/25
2011 Civic Si. Taffeta White

The car is awesome. Not fast at all as a matter of fact, it feel slower than my Base RSX but the handling sure make up for it. Got the exact color that I wanted too.

 

[PricklyPete]

Damn I can't wait....

Bought this yesterday 10/25
2011 Civic Si. Taffeta White

The car is awesome. Not fast at all as a matter of fact, it feel slower than my Base RSX but the handling sure make up for it. Got the exact color that I wanted too.

Congrats...should be a very fun car.

 

[ViviTheMage]

A4 is my perfect car ... epic interior, great handling, decent power (easy upgrade options .. chip..bolt ons...etc), QUATTRO.

Not to mention it's an audi ^_^

 

[HarryLui]

Buying snow tires this time?

 

[ElFenix]

the biggest conflict i see all the time are 3 things: Engine, transmission, number of doors. You want a v6 sedan? Those only come with automatic transmissions. You want a manual? You can only get the manual with either the v6 coupe or the i4 sedan. Wtf? Both of those suck dick. Just give me a car that doesn't suck ass. I want 6 cylinders, 4 doors, a manual transmission. That's it. Why is this so difficult!!?!?

Toyota: All v6 only come with automatics
honda: Only the civic si almost fits what i want. Power, manual, 4 doors.
Subaru: Impreza wrx :thumbsup:
Others..... Etc

g35 6mt